2008: A(nother) new arrival….Part 2

After a big couple of years things just kept getting bigger, with the arrival of not one but two more Hutchinson babies. Twins Alice and Hamish came along to keep Josie company and Dan and Mel busier than ever!

2008 also saw:

– The Bulletin magazine publishes its final edition on 23 January after 128 years;

– Prime Minister Kevin Rudd makes a formal apology in the Australian Parliament to the Aboriginal Stolen Generations

– In a portent of things to come internationally, the Opes Prime stockbroking firm collapses with the Australian Securities and Investments Commission announcing an investigation;

– The first Apple iPhone is released in Australia;

– The Queensland divisions of the Liberal and National Parties officially merge to create the Liberal National Party;

– Details of a phone call that Kevin Rudd takes at the Lodge from US President George W Bush are leaked to The Australian newspaper. It is alleged that the President had to ask his Australian counterpart what the G20 was. The leaks cause many to question the discretion of the first term Prime Minister;

– Channel 9’s news and current affairs flagship, the Sunday program, is broadcast for the final time on 3 August after 27 years on the air;

– Fidel Castro hands power of Cuba to his brother Raoul. Fidel had ruled the nation for 49 years;

– 10 terrorists murder more than 170 people and another 300 in attacks centred around Mumbai;

– An Egyptian journalist throws his shoe at US President Bush, calling him “a dog”. The shoe just missed Bush’s bonce;

– In a personal and bitterly fought contest for the US Democratic Presidential Nomination, presumptive front runner Hilary Clinton is defeated on the final day of the primary season by Illinois Senator Barack Obama;

– John McCain is later confirmed as the Republican nominee. McCain shakes up the race by appointing Alaskan Governor Sarah Palin as his running mate. What at first seems like a masterstroke quickly descends into farce with Palin, after a series of disastrous interviews proving her to be completely out of her depth, becoming an international punchline;

– After becoming the first black presidential candidate of a major political party in the USA, Obama then wins the election and becomes the nation’s first black president with widespread joy and celebration following the victory;

– Several major US financial institutions begin to fail or are acquired under duress including Bear Sterns, Lehman Brothers, Merrill Lynch, Fannie Mae, Freddie, Citigroup and AIG. This was the beginning of the Global Financial Crisis;